If you’re like me, you run a business where profit margins count. When I see an opportunity to cut unnecessary spending in favor of new technology, I jump on the chance even if it might entail a small learning curve. That’s why I’m such an evangelist for printing stamps online (amongst other things).
A while back, my friend Jack recommended that I save time and money going to the post office by simply using Stamps.com instead. Of course, my immediate thought was something to the effect of “sounds like more trouble than it’s worth” but once I did a bit of research on my own, I found out it was quite the opposite.
Much like you, I don’t think much of going to the post office, waiting in line and sending mail. It’s a process we’ve all grown used to, especially in businesses that require a great deal of shipping (like mine). But when you actually think about what you go through at the post office on a daily basis, it’s a good wake-up call to change:
- You wait in line. Sometimes the line can be short, but if you go at the wrong time of day, you’re going to be waiting a while. Eventually, you’ll begin to notice that you schedule your day around it. It might not sound like much, but the average person spends about five minutes waiting in line at the post office on a given week day.
- Once you get up to the counter, you may have the wrong kind of shipping material and the “nice” clerk will send you back to get it and re-print all of your information by hand. I put “nice” in quotes because, if you’re extremely lucky, you’ll get someone in a good mood but most of the time… well, let’s just say I’m not so lucky.
- You have to travel there. On top of waiting in line, you have to spend time driving to and from the post office that could be spent elsewhere. Depending on how far you are from the post office, this can be a big hassle. Chances are, you’re spending at least twenty minutes getting there and back. Combine that with the five minutes of waiting on top of the preparation time (addressing, packaging, etc.) and you’ve racked up a half hour to forty-five minutes of time spent just shipping things. When you really think about it, that’s roughly 10% of your work-day spent. Not so efficient, is it?
So with that said, you should be aware that shipping with Stamps.com takes roughly five to ten minutes at a time. Yes, that’s right — you type in the address, confirm it and print. Then the mailman comes to take it away and you can go on about your day. It’s that simple.
I’d go into great detail about how it does all these magical things, but it’s better if you just read for yourself (here). Plus, there’s a free trial .. so that’s nice. Anyway, try it out and let me know what you think.